Brand new Jim Shooter radio interview on Comic Zone

[fantasyfootballbono]

Hi Guys:

Don't know if you saw or heard about this, but Vincent Zurzolo of Metropolis Collectibles had Jim Shooter on the Comic Zone radio show last Monday (as a last-minute replacement for Gene Colan). It is an excellent interview focusing on Jim's pre-Valiant career at DC and Marvel. Part II of the interview will take place in the coming weeks (watch the Comic Zone schedule for more information) and will probably feature a call-in time where you can call in and ask Jim any burning questions you might have.

Here is a link to the archived radio show. Norm Breyfogle is the first guest. Jim Shooter is the second guest. His interview begins about halfway through Segment 2 and continues on into Segment 3.

http://www.metropoliscomics.com/comicShow.html

(Scroll down to September 13 and hit the link for the show)

Thanks to Vincent for getting Jim on the show!

[Todd Luck]

Hi Guys:

Don't know if you saw or heard about this, but Vincent Zurzolo of Metropolis Collectibles had Jim Shooter on the Comic Zone radio show last Monday (as a last-minute replacement for Gene Colan). It is an excellent interview focusing on Jim's pre-Valiant career at DC and Marvel. Part II of the interview will take place in the coming weeks (watch the Comic Zone schedule for more information) and will probably feature a call-in time where you can call in and ask Jim any burning questions you might have.

Here is a link to the archived radio show. Norm Breyfogle is the first guest. Jim Shooter is the second guest. His interview begins about halfway through Segment 2 and continues on into Segment 3.

http://www.metropoliscomics.com/comicShow.html

(Scroll down to September 13 and hit the link for the show)

Thanks to Vincent for getting Jim on the show!

Cool interview.

If you listen to the show regularly, be sure to let us know when they get Big Jim on there for the "second part" of it.

[fantasyfootballbono]

Hi Guys:

Don't know if you saw or heard about this, but Vincent Zurzolo of Metropolis Collectibles had Jim Shooter on the Comic Zone radio show last Monday (as a last-minute replacement for Gene Colan). It is an excellent interview focusing on Jim's pre-Valiant career at DC and Marvel. Part II of the interview will take place in the coming weeks (watch the Comic Zone schedule for more information) and will probably feature a call-in time where you can call in and ask Jim any burning questions you might have.

Here is a link to the archived radio show. Norm Breyfogle is the first guest. Jim Shooter is the second guest. His interview begins about halfway through Segment 2 and continues on into Segment 3.

http://www.metropoliscomics.com/comicShow.html

(Scroll down to September 13 and hit the link for the show)

Thanks to Vincent for getting Jim on the show!

Cool interview.

If you listen to the show regularly, be sure to let us know when they get Big Jim on there for the "second part" of it.

The second part of it was yesterday. You can go to the same link above and listen to the archived interview (click on the link for September 27). It was a pretty short segment, but it sounds like Vinny wants to bring him back for part III.

[Todd Luck]

Hi Guys:

Don't know if you saw or heard about this, but Vincent Zurzolo of Metropolis Collectibles had Jim Shooter on the Comic Zone radio show last Monday (as a last-minute replacement for Gene Colan). It is an excellent interview focusing on Jim's pre-Valiant career at DC and Marvel. Part II of the interview will take place in the coming weeks (watch the Comic Zone schedule for more information) and will probably feature a call-in time where you can call in and ask Jim any burning questions you might have.

Here is a link to the archived radio show. Norm Breyfogle is the first guest. Jim Shooter is the second guest. His interview begins about halfway through Segment 2 and continues on into Segment 3.

http://www.metropoliscomics.com/comicShow.html

(Scroll down to September 13 and hit the link for the show)

Thanks to Vincent for getting Jim on the show!

Cool interview.

If you listen to the show regularly, be sure to let us know when they get Big Jim on there for the "second part" of it.

The second part of it was yesterday. You can go to the same link above and listen to the archived interview (click on the link for September 27). It was a pretty short segment, but it sounds like Vinny wants to bring him back for part III.

Thanks great interview. Hadn't heard that bit about Jim's plan to buy out his partners before. Hope there is a part 3.

[DJSpecter]

Yeah, that was the first time I heard that too. I wouldn't at all be surprised if that is another piece in the puzzle of why he was removed.

You know, for a clean-shaven, neat-haircut guy he sure sounds like a bearded, bench-presser. Anybody else have that impression at all?

-Dave

[Ryan]

It's funny hearing Breyfogle talk about Birthquake (he calls it Breakthrough), and how Acclaim put so much money into promoting it (they flew all the creators out to New York for a bit press conference I guess) and how fast it tanked.

[ManofTheAtom]

Breakthrough was the name of an Ultraverse crossover.

[Todd Luck]

Breakthrough was the name of an Ultraverse crossover.

I know. I thought that was kind of funny. There were so many "big", "unique" events in the 90's that even the people involved in them couldn't keep there names straight

[Ryan]

Great interview, Shooter needs to do some comics soon! Let us know when they have the next one in a few weeks

[dino]

I have to admit I was a fan of ultraverse too. Prime was top notch, Hard Case was good enough to keep my attention for almost a dozen but for some reason I couldnt stop reading strangers, I knew it wasnt any good but I enjoyed it anyway. Plus they had those awesome hologram covers. I wish valiant had done one, can you imagine a Solar full hologram cover! or the first page of Magnus #2!

[Eric Jackson]

i loved ultraverse as well, i enjoyed rune alot.

[fantasyfootballbono]

I collected RUNE, still have them. I loved the BWS covers and art.

Seeing books like Rune, listening to interviews with Jim Shooter, and browsing Bob Layton's webpage make me sad. Here we had three people who were all highly talented in their own ways, yet had fallen out of the "comic maintstream elite" prior to starting Valiant. In just a few months after beginning their universe, they were in the incredible and enviable position of being able to do something that could have made them "immortal" -- they could have built Valiant into a real player based on skillful storytelling, not gimmicks. With a longer-lasting commitment to quality (and to each other as people and partners), they could have made Valiant into the one comic book company that might have thrived through the most difficult years of the comic market crash.

But instead of being our generation's "Stan, Jack, and Steve," greed, ego, insecurity, and anger took over and destroyed it all, leaving us with only a glimmer of what could have been. I am sure that this sounds melodramatic to some, but dammit, I remember what it was like to pick up those early Valiant books for the first, second, and tenth time and give them a good read. Solar 1-10, X-O #1-6, Magnus 1-12, A&A #0, I remember where I was the first time I read each of them. The feeling was almost electric, as though I had just finished reading something where I knew that ten or twenty years later, I would still remember where I was when I read each of them for the first time. (And like I said -- I do, and judging from the popularity of these forums and the resurgence of Valiant's books lately, I'm far from the only one who does.) Although the production budget was small for those books, the final product was as right and good and true and enjoyable as anything the medium has ever produced.

This undeniable truth is the reason why these boards and this fan base exist for this now-long-dead company. Do the Image titles like Spawn, Brigade, Youngblood, or Wildcats have online followings like the Valiant books? No, yet these titles were the brainchildren (and I use "brain" very loosely in this instance) of the people who were supposed to be "the best" creators in the field at the time.

I can only hope that one day Shooter, Layton, and BWS can bury the hatchet, throw their hats together again, and try to do their best work to make something that lasts. They sure had the magic flowing there for a short (albeit sweet) while. It is a damned tragedy that three of the most talented guys ever to work in the field are hardly a part of it anymore. I can think of no better way for the three of them to "rejoin" the industry with a bang and with a vengeance than to first heal the rift between them that hangs over their legacy like a shadow, and then push full steam ahead with all of their many talents to tell stories as well as they have ever been told -- like they did last time.

And for those who say it can't be done, hell, if the Eagles could get back together again after 14 years of *SQUEE* and anger, so can these guys. It's only pride, after all, and when you're 90 years old and wondering where the hell the years went and why you didn't achieve what you were meant to, pride is a pretty empty thing to be "proud" of, in retrospect.

[whetteon]

Beautiful post fantasyfootballbono. Sniff, brings a tear to my eye.

[fantasyfootballbono]

Beautiful post fantasyfootballbono. Sniff, brings a tear to my eye.

Thanks Whetton. Part III of the Shooter interview was this past Monday. Great interview, and an entire hour this time! The link to the radio show is above in this thread.

[myron]

I collected RUNE, still have them. I loved the BWS covers and art.

Seeing books like Rune, listening to interviews with Jim Shooter, and browsing Bob Layton's webpage make me sad. Here we had three people who were all highly talented in their own ways, yet had fallen out of the "comic maintstream elite" prior to starting Valiant. In just a few months after beginning their universe, they were in the incredible and enviable position of being able to do something that could have made them "immortal" -- they could have built Valiant into a real player based on skillful storytelling, not gimmicks. With a longer-lasting commitment to quality (and to each other as people and partners), they could have made Valiant into the one comic book company that might have thrived through the most difficult years of the comic market crash.

But instead of being our generation's "Stan, Jack, and Steve," greed, ego, insecurity, and anger took over and destroyed it all, leaving us with only a glimmer of what could have been. I am sure that this sounds melodramatic to some, but dammit, I remember what it was like to pick up those early Valiant books for the first, second, and tenth time and give them a good read. Solar 1-10, X-O #1-6, Magnus 1-12, A&A #0, I remember where I was the first time I read each of them. The feeling was almost electric, as though I had just finished reading something where I knew that ten or twenty years later, I would still remember where I was when I read each of them for the first time. (And like I said -- I do, and judging from the popularity of these forums and the resurgence of Valiant's books lately, I'm far from the only one who does.) Although the production budget was small for those books, the final product was as right and good and true and enjoyable as anything the medium has ever produced.

This undeniable truth is the reason why these boards and this fan base exist for this now-long-dead company. Do the Image titles like Spawn, Brigade, Youngblood, or Wildcats have online followings like the Valiant books? No, yet these titles were the brainchildren (and I use "brain" very loosely in this instance) of the people who were supposed to be "the best" creators in the field at the time.

I can only hope that one day Shooter, Layton, and BWS can bury the hatchet, throw their hats together again, and try to do their best work to make something that lasts. They sure had the magic flowing there for a short (albeit sweet) while. It is a damned tragedy that three of the most talented guys ever to work in the field are hardly a part of it anymore. I can think of no better way for the three of them to "rejoin" the industry with a bang and with a vengeance than to first heal the rift between them that hangs over their legacy like a shadow, and then push full steam ahead with all of their many talents to tell stories as well as they have ever been told -- like they did last time.

And for those who say it can't be done, hell, if the Eagles could get back together again after 14 years of *SQUEE* and anger, so can these guys. It's only pride, after all, and when you're 90 years old and wondering where the hell the years went and why you didn't achieve what you were meant to, pride is a pretty empty thing to be "proud" of, in retrospect.

excellently eloquent...brings a tear to my eye...

[Todd Luck]

Beautiful post fantasyfootballbono. Sniff, brings a tear to my eye.

Thanks Whetton. Part III of the Shooter interview was this past Monday. Great interview, and an entire hour this time! The link to the radio show is above in this thread.

Thanks for the heads up. Great interview. I can't wait to see this new project he's been working on.

[Ryan]

Great Interviews. One thing that surprised me was when he said DC, Marvel, and Dark Horse all tried to acquire the Gold Key properties in the late 80's. I also can't wait to see this new universe he's been working on for 2 years!

ps. I wonder if that's the 'secret' project that Ryan Mclelland(sp?) was talking about?